Server
This page regards the computer server, not to be confused with a waiter/waitress or someone who servers something
A Server is a special kind of computer designed solely to supply (serve) information to clients. They use the client-server model to do this.
Kinds of Servers
- Web servers - Offer webpages and webpage-related files (a website) usually using the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol or Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure
- File servers - Offer files not directly related to a specific website (there will sometimes be a comparatively small website on the same server to aid in distribution) using the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol
- FTP servers - A kind of file server which uses the File-Transfer Protocol rather than the more common Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol of the previous type
- Proxy servers - Go-between servers which web traffic may be tunneled to for privacy or restriction avoidance
- Game servers - Enable clients to play games online with other clients[1]
Clusters
Servers are often grouped into server clusters. These clusters usually consist of at least two server computers which could operate independently. They are generally made to improve performance of a website or other virtual server--this is especially important for popular websites.[2] For example, each server computer may support up to 1,000 clients, but if a website receives more than this at a time, it will be overloaded. With a cluster, however, clients will be distributed throughout the available servers to avoid overload.[3]
Many large websites and services use clusters, including Amazon.[Citation Needed]